Pacific Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping Center (PIBHMC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
200704
CRED Optical Validation Data at Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific Remote Islands Area (PRIA), 2004
to support Benthic Habitat Mapping
Video imagery, track line navigation files, and log sheets
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/pibhmc/
Optical validation data were collected using a Tethered Optical Assessment Device (TOAD), an underwater
sled equipped with an underwater digital video camera and lights. Data were collected in the Pacific Remote Islands
Area (PRIA), around Palmyra Atoll to support Benthic Habitat Mapping efforts during NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette
cruise OES0404, from March 30-April 2, 2004.
These data provide optical observations that will be correlated with bathymetry and acoustic backscatter
imagery to develop a benthic habitat map of Palmyra. Refer to supplemental information for description of
instrument and survey.
Palmyra, a low-lying, 12 sq.km. atoll in the Pacific Remote Island Area (PRIA), is a member
of the Line Islands and is centered around 5 degrees 53'N, 162 degrees 05'W. Its lush vegetation and fresh water
table makes it unique among the PRIA islands. Although Palmyra was unhabited at the time of its discovery by
Western sailors and lacks archaeological remains, Polynesians probably visited it periodically over many centuries
to harvest fish and wildlife. The lack of human habitation allowed Palmyra's coral reefs to remain completely
pristine until the early 20th century. Even today it lies beyond the influence of urban centers, associated
pollutants and major shipping lanes. In 1856, Palmyra was claimed by the U.S. under the Guano Act. During World War
II, the U.S. constructed a military base on Palmyra, dredging out a harbor in the the atoll's lagoon and building a
causeway across the lagoon which limited the natural circulation within the lagoon. A National Wildlife Refuge
administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, limited catch-and-release sport fishing and fishing for local
consumption are allowed. Palmyra is under the joint jurisdiction of the Departments of Interior and Commerce and
The Nature Conservancy. Ocean currents transport and distribute larvae among and between different atolls and
islands, and particularly in the Pacific equatorial region, define sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and available
nutrient regimes. The North Equatorial Current (NEC), Equatorial Counter Current (ECC), Equatorial Undercurrent or
Cromwell Current (EUC), and South Equatorial Current (SEC) provide the mechanism by which many species are
distributed among the PRIAs, nearby central Pacific islands, the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI), as well as other
distant regions.
Optical validation data were collected using the Tethered Optical Assessment Device (TOAD), a sled equipped with
underwater video camera and lights. These data are used to provide ground-truth validation for benthic habitat
maps based on multibeam echosounder surveys. Camera sled deployments were conducted at night, usually between 1800
and midnight. The duration of each tow varied but averaged about 40 minutes of bottom time at a given location. The
camera sled was deployed from the port J-frame mounted amidships on the NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette. At each station
the ship was positioned with the wind on the port side and drifted downwind; occasional light turns were applied to
the ship's screws if necessary to reduce the ship's motion. The TOAD was lowered slowly to the bottom by the deck
crew using a capstan. The operator monitored a live video feed from the camera and began recording data on a video
tape recorder. When the camera reached bottom the deck crew was notified by radio to stop lowering. The operator
continued to monitor the vehicle and provided commands to raise or lower it to keep the camera just above the
bottom.
Equipment Description: The TOAD was deployed from the lower arm of the vessel's port side J-frame. The TOAD is a
camera sled based on the Guildline MiniBat model 8820 tow body. The frame has been extensively modified from its
original configuration and was equipped with an ROS model 54-00100-13 color underwater video camera as the primary
data collection instrument. The ROS camera was mounted to point at approximately a 45 degree angle toward the
seafloor. A Deep Sea Power and Light model 2050 MultiSeaCam low-light color video camera was also mounted on the
sled and aimed straight ahead. The signal from this camera was fed to a second video monitor to provide warning of
underwater obstructions the sled might be headed for. Illumination was provided by two 500 W DeepSea Power & Light
Multi-SeaLite model 1050 underwater lights mounted on the original sled frame. The lights were located near the
base and each side of the sled to provide the maximum possible horizontal distance from the ROS camera. Cable
between the sled and the surface consisted of a underwater electrical cable (cable 1, blue in color) with a
separate load-bearing line to support the sled frame. The electrical cable was clipped to the line at regular
intervals upon deployment and removed upon recovery. The load-bearing line was led to the starboard capstan on the
aft deck. All TOAD surface components were located in the Dry Lab in an equipment rack on the after bulkhead.
Name & address of person collecting data:
Joyce Miller
NOAA IRC
NMFS/PIFSC/CRED
1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu, HI 96818
Data Files: Video data were recorded on a video tape recorder. The position of the camera sled was recorded in
WGS-84 using Guildline MiniBat In-Tow data acquisition software and a data feed from a shipboard Northstar Chartplotter.
File naming convention: Each tow is given a name consisting of a three-letter designator for the island area,
followed by a two-digit year and a three-digit tow number, which increments by one for each new tow around that
island. During OES0404 (NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette's 4th cruise in calendar year 2004) the consecutive tows at
Palmyra started at PAL04001. For following cruises, the tow numbers will increment by 100, so the first tow on
the next cruise to Palmyra in 2004 will be tow number PAL04100. Video tape labels, the navigation files (*.glo) and
paper log forms are annotated with the tow name and number, e.g., PAL04012. If the navigation file is edited during
processing the file name has a suffix 'a' added. For example, for a navigation data file named PAL04012a.glo,
the 'a' would indicate that metadata were extracted from the navigation data and recorded to a file with the same
name as the navigation file except that a file type of '.met' was appended; for example, 'PAL04012a.glo.met.
Time Correlation: All times are based on UTC. Two clocks were manually synchronized prior to starting data
collection; the clock in the video character generator that was used to annotate the video tape, and the clock in
the TOAD data acquisition computer. These clocks were set to UTC at the beginning of each evening's operations.
Resource Description: Digital video imagery that is geo-referenced to navigation files.
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ground condition
Complete
None planned
-162.20
-161.99
5.91
5.85
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus
EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Benthic Habitat
EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Photographic Analysis > Videography
EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Mapping
None
Tethered Optical Assessment Device (TOAD)
Underwater video
OES0404
CoRIS Discovery Thesaurus
Visual Images > Habitats
ISO 19115 Topic Category
environment
biota
CoRIS Place Thesaurus
OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Line Islands > Palmyra Atoll (05N162W0001)
COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Palmyra Atoll (05N162W0001)
None
Pacific Remote Islands Area
PRIA
CoRIS Region
PRIA
None
Please acknowledge the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center
as the source of this information.
Pacific Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping Center (PIBHMC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
John Rooney
mailing and physical address
NOAA IRCNMFS/PIFSC/CRED1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu
HI
96818808 725-5360808 725-5429
nmfs.pic.credinfo@noaa.gov
e-mail preferred
Pacific Island Benthic Habitat Mapping Center, Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands
Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), NOAA
Not applicable
Unclassified
Not applicable
Unspecified
Complete
The horizontal position accuracy for the camera sled position is estimated
at plus or minus 100 meters. There are three primary sources of this error. The ship's positioning is based on
GPS SPS, often called standalone or non-differential GPS positioning. SPS has a measured accuracy of under 5
meters. The position of the GPS antenna is used; no attempt is made to translocate this position to that of the
tow block from which the camera is deployed. The difference between the tow block and the antenna is about 14
meters. The largest source of error is uncertainty associated with the sled's position relative to the tow block.
After a tow was completed the video tape data was reviewed by spot-checking the master to
verify that data were recorded. A backup copy of the tape is made at that time as well. Navigation data were
copied from the acquisition computer to the data archive. A metadata extractor (glofilter.py, version 3/17/06)
was run to summarize the navigation data and test for errors. If errors were detected in a record, a copy of the
data file was made (the 'a.glo' file mentioned above), that record was automatically flagged as invalid, and
corrections were made if possible. This file's header was updated to document what type of processing occurred.
A metadata file was recorded in the data archive in the same location as the navigation data. Processed navigation
data were then imported to ArcGIS 9.x.
20060331
Pacific Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping Center (PIBHMC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
John Rooney
mailing and physical address
NOAA IRCNMFS/PIFSC/CRED1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu
HI
96818808 725-5360808 725-5429
nmfs.pic.credinfo@noaa.gov
e-mail preferred
Offline Data
These data are not to be used for navigational purposes. NOAA makes no warranty regarding these
data, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA cannot assume liability
for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data, nor as a result of the failure of these data to
function on a particular system.
ASCII
Each comma-delimited record contains information on the UTC date and time, latitude,
longitude, velocity north and east of the ship, water depth of the seafloor below the transducer (to find the
total depth from the water surface to the seafloor add 5 m to these values to account for the depth of the
tranducer) layback, and wing angle.
List of navigation files:
The shapefiles showing camera sled tracks listed below consist of a collection of files with the names listed
below, followed by these extensions: .dbf, .shp, .shx, and .prj. All file types are necessary to properly
displaying the source data.
PAL04001-013 (13 files)
PAL04015-016 (2 files)
PAL04018-020 (3 files)
List of glo files:
PAL04001-020.glo
CD-ROM
ISO 9660
VHS, miniDV
A total of 18 separate segments of video data are available.
These data were recorded on 4 video tapes
List of video tapes:
PAL04001-006, VHS, Master
PAL04007-011, VHS, Master
PAL04012-017, VHS, Master
PAL04018-020, VHS, Master
PAL04001-006a, Mini DV, Master
PAL04001-006b, Mini DV, Master
PAL04007-010a, Mini Dv, Master
PAL04007-010b, Mini DV, Master
PAL04012-017a, Mini DV, Master
PAL04012-017b, Mini DV, Master
PAL04018-020, Mini DV, Master
PAL04001-006a, Mini DV, Backup
PAL04001-006b, Mini DV, Backup
PAL04007-010a, Mini Dv, Backup
PAL04007-010b, Mini DV, Backup
PAL04012-017a, Mini DV, Backup
PAL04012-017b, Mini DV, Backup
PAL04018-020, Mini DV, Backup
Video cassette tape
miniDV
None
20140312
Pacific Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping Center (PIBHMC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
CRED Data Management Team
mailing and physical address
NOAA IRCNMFS/PIFSC/CRED1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu
HI
96818808 725-5360808 725-5429
nmfs.pic.credinfo@noaa.gov
e-mail preferred
FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
FGDC-STD-001-1998
20080502062643
None
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http://www.coris.noaa.gov/metadata/records/html/cred_toad_palmyra_oes0404_2004.html
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